Beano Drabbles
by ultranaff
Summary: Short scenes, drabbles, excerpts, or whatever you'd like to dub it. Stories of randomness mon amis, all Beano pertained.
1. The Trouble with Insomnia

**This is a series of Beano rough cuts that I've written over the years but never got around to developing into full stories. They're useless lying around on my computer so I might as well publish them. I hope you enjoy. :)  
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**The Trouble with Insomnia**

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Danny didn't feel like he could sleep much anymore, not unless there was a body lying next to him and he could hear their breathing every time his eyes snapped open in shock from scary sleep. That comfort of presence made a world of difference in the anxiety of the night.

He fumbled for the phone, it clicked and the heavily accented voice of a female came from the other end. "'Ello?"

"Toots."

"Oh.. alright Danny?" she knew immediately what he wanted. 'You can come over if you want"

He grunted in a yes, and said nothing else but hang p the phone. He grabbed a jacket and stomped down the stairs, sleepy and annoyed at himself for being woken up and his inability to get back to sleep without the hassle.

His eyes remained sleepy, heavy, as he walked through the dark evening, the trees large and looming hanging against the moonlight and the houses stood silently against the spring breeze. The whole town seemed asleep, even Toots and Sidney's was dark and quiet as he came fast approaching.

He clicked the door open and walked in with no bother though, making his way up the stairs and quietly approaching Sidney's door. He peeked his head inside but was surprised to see an empty bed. With another dissatisfied grunt, he wandered over to Toots bedroom and quietly snuck himself in and lay down on the floor beside the bed Toots was slumbering.

Quickly, Danny's eyes grew heavy as he fell into peaceful sleep.

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

"You have issues"

Danny woke up the next morning to find Toots lying on the bed with her tousled sleepy head being supported in one hand.

Danny sat up from the makeshift bed of a pillow and baby blanket he made on the floor and ran a hand down his groggy face. "You said I could come over."

"I know."

"So why are you giving' me hassle?"

"Because I can!" Danny tossed the pillow at her face like he would do to an irritating sister, and she just giggled.

Downstairs in the kitchen, Danny slurped down a bowl of coco-puffs while Toots scraped butter against toast. They were both dressed now, in their school uniforms. Danny, a smart cream blouse with striped school tie and brown slacks. Toots, with a matching skirt and tights.

Her hair fell messily around her face, and even though she did not brush her hair and scuffed the socks around her ankle like a boy, there was still something quite feminine and soft about her. She had big bold eyes and rosy lips that she chewed raw when nervous. She had warm gypsy colored skin and she had a flash of green eyes that could be quite seductive sometimes, even if she didn't know.

But Danny mainly liked her because of the comfort, because her face was one of the first he could ever remember, even if it was changing slightly to something more womanly.

She still had that same little-girlish grin plastered on, as she tossed peppermint candies up and into her mouth. Onto her face. "ow."

"You don't really think I have issues do you?" he asked, licking his spoon.

Toots cocked a brow at the boy. "Is the sky blue?"

He feigned a hurt expression. "I'm not that bad ..." he paused. "am I?"

"Is the grass green?"

"OK. I get it. Jesus."

"Danny, you come over to one of our houses every night because you can't sleep by yourself. I mean, you have to ask yourself, why is that?"

A frown furrowed his brow as he stirred the milk leftover in his bowl. "Well... "

He watched the tiny remains of coco puffs bump into each other.

'Danny...?"

"Well I'll not go sleeping where I'm not wanted." he shoved himself out of his chair, putting his bowl in the sink "In fact, I went over to Sidney's room before yours last night."

"Oh yea?"

"...and he wasn't in. So I had to sleep in your room."

She shrugged. "See that doesn't make sense. You have an empty bed to sleep in, A.K.A my brother's, and yet, you still chose to sleep on the floor in my room"

He wanted to explain that it wasn't the empty house that kept him awake at night, but it was the necessity of hearing someone breathing. Something to lull his heart and soul into relaxation. "Toots, just... shut up."

She ignored him. "Anyway, I dunno where Sidney is, he's probably off making trouble with Curly and Pieface I reckon." Sidney , her twin brother and a core member of the group, had been straying away recently towards kids who liked to 'party'. Drugs were something Curly and Pieface were known for.

Danny screwed up his face in annoyance at the thought and grabbed his backpack, turning to her with folded arms.

"lets go to school then"

"You're narked with me, aren't you?"

"No I'm not." he lied

"You are. I can tell." she said

"I'm not though, I just said I wasn't, didn't I?"

"You are, you are."

"Ok NOW I'm annoyed."

Toots grinned, chowed down her toast and grabbed her backpack. She pulled her hair back, while Danny studied her. "Why don't you keep your hair down?

"Why don't you mind your own business?"

He gave her a shove and she shoved him back, before they knew it, they were scuffling out the door.

"Look mate, I'm just blunt. Don't get bent out of shape with me if I point out the fact that you need a babysitter to help you slee-OW!"

He waggled a fist in her direction.

That was the difference between him and Toots. Toots just said what was on her mind, freely and bluntly. Danny, on the other hand, was much more reserved. This is why it was embarrassing to even have his few close friends become aware of his insomnia. To him, being honest felt like there was a hole through his armor exposing the secrets that lay within him.

So he kept his mouth shut. Sometimes he wish he had the freedom to be open and personable, but he didn't, so the emotional release of violence had to make do.

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

"APOLOGIZE!" he yelled, raising Cuthbert up by the collar and slamming him against the wall.

It was noon, lunch break. By Year 11, their schools playground had become asphalt, some benches, a goalie net, and a dry dusty school building plopped right in the middle of it all. The students scattered around, loitering, chatting, playing, fighting.

"I'm sorry! I'm sorry I said you were... s-s-sensitive" he whimpered.

Releasing his fists Cuthbert plopped to the floor with a hard thud and scuttled away. Toots slapped her forehead and Spotty and Wilfred chuckled bemusingly. "I thought he was gonna cry."

"You're ridiculous!" Toots said

"I don't care!" Danny yelled.

"Hey Danny. Wilfred and I are going to have an all night horror-gore film fest. Want to come? Not you though Toots. No girls allowed."

"It sounds stupid anyway." She said, completely hurt

"Eh... no. I'm alright." Danny wasn't particularly fond of Spotty's mother, he found her overwhelming and overbearing, a woman with an apron permanently tied around her pudgy waist and a sing-song voice that was shrill to the ears. Even if he didn't have a mother of his own, he didn't want a clingy one.

Spotty shrugged. "Suit yourself."

Hands in pockets, he wandered away to the other end of the school yard.

Yea he hadn't had a mother for a long time.

She went away when he was very young. Around 7, he couldn't really remember the details but he recalled being tucked in, falling asleep and then the next day she was gone. Poof, just like that. His father, gruffly and simply stated that she would never be back again.

Ever since that incident, a thought manifested. Danny began to feel that if he slept, someone else from his life would disappear. He needed, in a weird way, to have people around him in order to confirm that they were still there in the morning. So when his Dad stayed out at night, which he often did, it left him totally and utterly, awake.


	2. Classtime

**Classtime**

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Danny groaned, his eyes flitting longingly to the sunshine that radiated over the asphalt of the outside. The promising blue sky and those white fluffy clouds were such a contrast to the old Victorian-esque drab that was IIB classroom.

"Danny! Eyes front." Teacher snapped, pausing from his lecture. The youth groaned painfully and allowed his head to flop into the crook of his elbow. "Teacher, I'll die."

"You're not going to die."

"I am. I'm going to die from boredom." He choked out a tired sob. "All this math's is making me nauseous. Can I go to the nurses office?"

Teacher snapped the math's text shut. "Certainly not." His dark brows furrowed even further, deepening his wrinkles accumulated over the years from the weariness of his job. "If you are to die, at least you'll die with an education."

He picked up another text. "Now, on to English" the entire class groaned.

Danny flopped his head back in his arms.

Toots slid her hand out and smacked him for attention. She smiled sweetly. "You'd better not die. I'd miss you."

He grinned, while Spotty just rolled his eyes. "Oh my god lovebirds. I'm going to be sick."

"Shove it Spotty."


	3. Rain

**Rain**

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"I am so sick of this weather." Toots mumbled.

The rain fell. Hard. Down on herself, her brother Sidney, and her two friends, Spotty and Danny. They were all huddled together in a freezing mass. Spotty took the opportunity to moan. "I'm so cold. I'm so bloody freezing. I can't even feel my face. I'm going to catch a cold, and me mams gonna kill me-"

"Will you shut up?" Danny sniffed fiercely, huddling into his soaked sweater and peering down the street. "I don't want to hear anything, except for the sound of the bus."

A couple cars trundled down the street but apart from that the streets remained empty and wet. After a couple minutes, Danny finally snapped.

"Ok forget this. " He faced his friends with aggravation. "An hour we've been waiting in this bloody stupid weather. A BLOODY HOUR. Why do adults think they can treat us like this-" Toots had to close her eyes as Danny went off on his rant. She was feeling queasy in the pit of her stomach, and a fever was creeping into her neck. "….and ANOTHER thing-"

She sneezed, and all three boys looked to her. "Eh? You don't look too well"

"I'm thick." She sniffed, her red eyes watering. Sidney broke out into a grin,

"You're thick?"

"Doh. I'm thick."

"Yea, you're thick!" He teased in his incessant way. "Toots just admitted it!" he grinned despite the rain and sang harmoniously. "She's thick she's thick she's thi-OW!"

Danny withdrew his fist, "Give it a rest, yea?" Sidney clutched the tender spot on his arm with a groan, while Danny wiped his wet face with his sleeve. , "Come on, we'll all get warm in my house."

The others followed his quick pace. "What about school?" Spotty asked, trying to keep up despite his small legs.

"Sod school."

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

Danny's warm house was a welcome change from the soaking wet of the streets. The friends immediately threw their wet coats on the floor and huddled around the fireplace while Toots collapsed onto the couch. She tossed her head back, the water from her hair running down her face, and groaned feverishly.

Danny fetched her a towel while Sidney and Spotty raided the kitchen for snacks. Toots turned to Danny, her wet hair framing her face, wiping the droplets of water off her face. "Where's your dad then?"

He shrugged. "Work?"

"You mean the pub." Spotty guffawed

"Oi!"

"Ignore them." Toots blew her nose after Danny handed her a box of Kleenex. "They get stupid when they're together, because they can't help it. Their brains just didn't develop as fast."

Sidney and Spotty stomped back into the room. "We found Jaffa cakes!" Sidney mumbled with a mouth stuffed full of biscuits and boxes of the stuff heaped in his arms Spotty followed behind. "And CRISPS."

"Since when was my house a free-for-all?" Danny demanded, glaring at them pointedly. "You didn't even ask for those!"

"Oh sorrrrryyy." Sidney jeered, quickly ripping open packets and shoving them in his mouth before he could retort.

"Share the wealth eh?" Spotty tossed them a bag of crisps, and Toots picked it up, eyes sparkling. "Quakers? I love Quakers!"

"Oi! Don't eat those!" Danny snapped.

"But they're my favorite." She mumbled.

"Yea don't be so horrible" Sidney grinned, clearly getting joy out of rustling Danny's feathers. Danny ran a hand down his face in frustration.

"Fine, eat all my food, but I'm the one who's going to have to answer to me dad when all his foods gone out the pantry-"

"Oh as if yer dad is gonna care much about missing jaffa cakes after he finds out you've been playin hooky."

Danny brushed this statement off with a wave of his hand. "He won't find out."


End file.
